Tuesday, 7 May 2013

Westboro V Slayer Fans

So it has been announced that the Westboro Baptist Church (Or as I am now going to refer to them, wbc, no capitals, they don't deserve them, and I am certainly not adding the word church, what they have is certainly not a church, more like a den of hatred and evil) are going to be picketing the funeral of Slayer guitarist, Jeff Hanneman.

Seriously? Does anyone out there know what's in that chalice they are passing around, because by no stretch of the imagination is that going to end well.

wbc have a history of picketing the funerals of military personnel killed in action. They even threatened to picket the funeral of the people, including a child, killed in the Boston Marathon terrorist attacks and now it seems that they have turned their attention to Slayer and are intending on bringing pain and suffering to the family, friends and fans of Jeff Hanneman.

I am torn, part of me wants no funeral to ever be interrupted by these evil do-wrongers who think they are doing God's work, (They aren't) and yet a really big part of me wants them to bowl up to a funeral and finally experience the full wrath of the mourners, because be under no illusion, those Slayer fans are going to bring their 'A' game.

Whether wbc are doing it for publicity or not, the fact stands that these people are spreading more hatred and evil than anyone else ever would. They say THEIR God hates 'fags' ? Well I say that MY God thinks that people should be able to love whoever the hell they want, and I know plenty of other people will say the same.

But I am not interested in playing 'God Top Trumps' with the wbc, You cannot argue with these people, and many people have tried, using logic, carefully planned arguments, even picture books and small words just in case that works. (It didn't)

Slayer fans have been tweeting and spreading the word about taking balloons filled with red paint to throw at the wbc if they dare attend the funeral, the date of which is yet to be announced. I have to say I admire their restraint in this matter, I've seen what Slayer fans will do to themselves to show their love for the band.

See?

Paint? They are toying with the wbc as far as I can see.

So today I'm asking, what is your opinion on wbc? And what do you think will happen if they DO picket the funeral of Jeff Hanneman? Or do you think that they are all about publicity and won't dare to show their face?

13 comments

I'm torn. The moral, tolerant side of me thinks "don't be as bad as them, don't lower yourselves, make a dignified stand, block their picket and show them up to be the maniacs they are."

The more base, human side of me thinks "slay the bastards, give them hell, they're disgusting and they've done nothing but bring it on themselves"

I think after seeing them become more and more and more outspoken, high profile and planning pickets of childrens funerals, I'm more inclined to lean towards that second option these days. These guys just piss me off. My only worry is that if anything bad were to happen they'd twist everything and turn themselves into martyrs. Not that anyone with a brain would give a flying flip, but I'd hate to think anyone gave them actual cause to complain!

Mmmmm, hard one. If wbc have ANY brains whatsoever (debatable) they will not show up, for their own sakes, not to mention it being deplorable they were going to show up at all, but they don't care about that. If they show up and get made mincemeat of, they would use it as an excuse to play the victim card, not that anyone would have any sympathy of course!

wbc raises more of an issue i think in the states - they have amendments advocating free speech but they very people who laud the constitution want to make an exception when it comes to the wbc as it disrespects the very people who died for the constitution. I am glad that they are still doing in through non-violence. small mercies. But louis theroux did a documentary on them and actually they are really quite pathetic.

So they are threatening to picket a funeral.... So what happened to the whole Love Thy Neighbour creed? WTAF gives them ANY right whatsoever to make an already difficult day even harder for the family and friends that he has left behind?

HAVE THEY NO SHAME?

They go beyond scum, I have more respect for pond scum than I do for the wbcunts. They are in no way Christian as I understand Christianity.

The Slayer fans are being remarkably tolerant with only threatening to throw paint filled balloons. Personally, I'd make them filled with pigs blood happily lob them whilst singing "raining blood", but I'm a sick bitch at times. I'm also a long standing Slayer fan and have actually met them backstage when they played a gig over here once. They were a lovely bunch, intelligent, witty and totally fine with me fan girling at them lol (still not sure how I managed to get a backstage pass :D )

My thoughts on the wbc? They should be closed down, forcibly. They are out to ruin other peoples lives all due to what a book says. They aren't a church, they are a cult. Brainwashing people into believing their vile "beliefs"Finding people that are easily led to do their frigging stupid bidding "Yeah! I know lets go picket funerals! That will endear us to people! Fuckwads. As I tweeted last night, they shouldn't be allowed to picket a garden fence.

I could rant on about this supposed church, but I'm tired and it's making me far too angry.

In closing all I want to say is RIP Jeff Hanneman, you were loverly to me and you will be missed by those that matter. Fly high and soar the skies <3

I am so glad I read this! I heard about this yesterday and had a pretty long and 'deep' conversation with my partner about it, both as Slayer fans and myself who tries to be accepting of all faiths, religions and beliefs. The wbc (I completely agree, they do not deserve capitals or to be said in their full name) seem to have a habit of picketing and protesting pretty much anyone, and it confuses me. It really does. I'm not going to claim to know a lot about their particular beliefs and approach to religion/life/people, but what I cannot seem to grasp is the idea that any of them have any common sense. Surely, for anyone regardless of faith or position in life, we all have enough common sense in us to know that when someone has died, regardless of how/where/who, they deserve a decent burial. Whether a religious burial, natural burial or whatever else that person shared wishes for.

I've been in a few mosh pits for Slayer. And boy oh boy did I quickly learn that you stand the hell back and out of the way, or you don't complain when the show is over and you're left battered, bruised and quite possibly bleeding. Sometimes at festivals I've even gone to watch Slayer JUST to admire the pit. It's something else and hardly rivaled by any other band. So like you, part of me is torn. I definitely 100% do not think they should be allowed to protest the funeral (even though a part of me is all like 'freedom of speech' (which coincidentally I think they gave up when they protested their first funeral and made their first homophobic claim)) but at the same time, I want to see their faces when confronted with hundreds of Slayer fans.

From the amount of funerals in the past they have declared they would protest and haven't, I do think a massive part of everything they do is one big publicity stunt. They aren't as large of a group as they would like to be, and maybe they think the more they kick up a fuss and become a name (albeit hated name) in the media and public eye, the more people will want to join them. I think one of these days their methods and approaches to other people are majorly going to back fire, and in a nasty way. It won't be pretty when someone decides that toying with them in response isn't enough and decides to take matters into their own hands...

Interestingly on a slightly different topic, I would love to hear what you think about every cemetery in and around Boston refusing to bury Tamerlan Tsarnaev? xo

What I love about this blog, and subsequent comments, is that people are in no way equating wbc actions with genuine, true, loving Christianity. As a Christian myself, this is a huge relief because the actions of the wbc make me sick, angry, and heartbroken all at once. I am no theological professor, but having been a Christian since I was a child, studying the Bible in a personal and academic capacity, there is NOTHING in there that even supports one tiny bit of the wbc philosophy. Thank you for drawing a distinction between their hateful actions, and the faith which brings me so much joy.

Seeing the actions of wbc picketing funerals of the fallen who do not comply with their narrow minded, blinkered belief. They show that they are fundamentalists, twisting a religion so much that it has become a perverted, corrupted form and narrowly skirting the lines that divide fundamentalism and extremism. They no longer represent their faith and are an abomination. No true Christian would take part in these acts.

Yes I am a Slayer fan and I am not a Christian, will they picket my funeral when the time comes because of this, no, because it will not get them the attention that they crave. As I am an unknown. They know that by picketing the late Jeff Hanneman, they will get their 15 minuets of fame, due to the media spot light. This makes it all the worse.

Oh, they'll go to it, because they're publicity whores. They make grand gestures supposedly in the name of their church, but really, they're just sad little attention seekers who have to piggyback on the fame or notoriety of others because nobody is interested in the bile they spew. They won't achieve anything - they'll go home and google themselves and see who they can target in order to get the next 15 minutes of fame.

I'm not a violent person by any stretch of the imagination, but I hope the rock up to the funeral. They wont get anywhere near the family or close friends as am sure the wall of fans will protect them, and just maybe they will get the hugely overdue ass kicking the wbc deserve.

Although I am an atheist, I do think that everyone is entitled to their own beliefs and if that enriches your life, then I'm happy for you. When it comes to WBC however, I wouldn't call them religious, I would call them a cult and like all cults, they are dangerous and need to be shown as such.

I love Slayer and have seen them live several times, so I know how fanatical their crowd is. All I can say is bring it on wbc and see what happens. I would REALLY love to see what a pissed off Kerry King (Google him for a photo if you're not familiar!) would think of wbc's despicable behaviour. I'm normally a pacifist, but when it comes to this bunch of tosspots who twist the Bible to suit their own hateful ends, I hope they get kerb stomped.

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